We're back!!!

Reasons to love living in Switzerland 1. It's safe!

2010-06-13T22:07:00.005+02:00

Neeedless to say, I am LONG overdue for a post, an update! I'm starting a new series, as in the title and hope to update it frequently enough. Pictured below is an assortment of pottery for sale outside the monastery in Fishingen. As you can see, OUTSIDE the monastery the vases are available to buy, not cheap and not expensive. But there's no person involved, you take the slip of paper shown in the 2nd photo and fill out your bank acct. info. and pay the monastery! Ok, yes this is a holy place, so you'd assume people will honor this system, but you never know! And I'm not exactly sure this honor system would work successfully in most parts of the U.S., sorry. Do you agree people?

We have several other examples of this which I'll show in future posts.

And the same can be done with fresh cut flowers, as shown below. If you look in the first picture on the left, 'Kasse' means cashier, it's where you deposit the money you owe for the flowers you've selected. These are located in various smaller villages outside the cities. It's small here, so it doesn't take long to get into the countryside or farming areas where you find these kinds of stands, as well as farms that have a similar set up. At the farms you can go into a small room & purchase eggs, vegetables, fresh milk, etc...and deposit your money, all without the observation or assistance of a human being! (however a lot of the farms have video surveillance!) Hopefully a farm photo will follow soon,

Switzerland excursion

2008-03-27T12:53:00.009+01:00

A nice house in Winterthur...the architecture here is a combination of Victorian and industrial, two of my favorites! In some ways this city reminds me a bit of Kalamazoo, MI.

Peace! Not acutlaly sure what type of plant this is...

A window reflection from one of the houses in Winterthur (pronounced wintertour...there is no 'th' sound in German).
Photo taken from a hilltop in Winterthur of one of the local churches..I should find out its name!
Believe it or not, this is a hotel....I think. Interesting architecture...click on the photo and you may see the painting details on the wall.
A paraglider (hang-glider?) in the Interlaken region. They are launching just outside the restaurant at Niederhorn. We dined outside after watching them launch, I had delicious pumpkin soup and 'alpin hornli' the Swiss equivalent of mac 'n cheese....but with bacon and shallots...yummy!! Alpin, of course refers to alpine and 'hornli' means 'little horn'...horn should have 2 small dots above the O, but my keyboard doesn't have it...it makes the O pronounced more like an E, as in 'early'; anything ending with 'li' means little in Swiss German, so the Beerlis' name means 'beer=berry' + 'li=little' = little berry. Their 'little horns' are basically our elbow macaroni.

Our dinner the night before was eaten fireside near our 'camp'. I think we didn't eat much, can't remember what we had (or didn't have!) but I do know the mac 'n cheese was a well-deserved meal
The Beerlis' property in Helig Kreuz, (meaning 'helig=holy' and 'kreuz=cross') a small villiage northeast of Wil (pronounced Vil...the W is a V sound in German.)
Also at the Little Berrys', as well as the photo below. Not the sunniest day, but the property is beautiful & quiet, no traffic or trains.

The church right next to the Beerlis' home. The bells gong on every quarter, half, and full hour (the only real noise heard here....other than dogs, cows, or tractors). Anyway, I always know what time it is. Once I mentioned hearing them in the middle of the night & they said, "Lori, it wasn't the middle of the morning, it was 6 a.m." Needless to say, it's peaceful here & I sleep quite soundly.
This is a typically, ornately painted building somewhere in Luzern (or Lucerne), not to be mistaken with Lausanne, a more famous city.
A building also in Luzern.
Some bubbles reflecting in the sunshine in one of the hillside drinking "fountains"...there's good water to drink everywhere here, even in the cities.
An Alpine Ibex, we encountered a few. This photo was taken in the morning on our hike in the Interlaken region (same day as hanggliders above).

Back to Zurich, I just think this reflection is cool. The mirrored building is actually a Zurich Kanton Buro (city government office)....The church, again, I'll have to look for the name, isn't all too spectacular, but the reflections made and colors from the office building, especially if the light is right, are quite special. The buildings are located on Werdstrasse, just at the Werd stop on the #3 tram line.

Back to the beginning....This is Raphael's apartment in Zurich, on Kurfirstenstrasse near Museum Rietberg. This was my/our home for about 4 months. Raphael is a sweetheart and was very generous in letting us stay so long!
Cathedral in St. Gallen....name....ok, so I have some research to do!!!
A riverside home in Shaffausen. The river is the famous Rhine. Shaffausen is a short train ride from where we live, in the north of Switzerland, close to the German border.
A nice country home in......Zurich!! I love that in Swiss cities you don't have to go too far to get that country, nature feel. This house is actually near Zollikon on the Gold Coast side of Zurichsee (Lake of Zurich...'See' means lake in German).
Holly grows wild in many places, this is in the park/grounds of Museum Rietberg, Zurich.
This is a hillside view from a walking path near Helig Kreuz. A typical view from the hills in this part of Switzerland.
This was our lunch stop, after the Ibex and the bubbles, before the hanggliders...Our view was down to the valley where we were heading.
This was taken on a walk through the hills around St. Gallen in the Appenzell area...where my FAVORITE cheese comes from!! Here I am, look at me now!!!
Another typical hillside view.
Oh....where are we now?

Arriving in Europe

2008-03-27T12:46:00.005+01:00

A bit out of order, but these are my very first photos of Switzerland. Starting left, this is actually outside the train station in Munich as I was getting ready to board the train to Zurich. This is El Lokal (lokal means bar in German)...the first place we stopped upon my arrival to Zurich. Yummy, European beer, not Asian!! Next is the Limmat River in Zurich and then Coop, on of the largest supermarket chains in Switzerland. Imagine me, coming from Asia, my first day in Switzerland, jetlagged & a bit buzzed from some white wine, visiting the supermarket!! Quite exciting for me to see all the cheese, chocolate, and high prices!! And finally, Roman : )

Recent Changes

2008-03-20T11:40:00.003+01:00

Hi All,
Hopefully you're still viewing, I know I've been slacking, but now there are changes!! The title is no longer 'Lori's travel blog 2006' as it's now 2008. There's a funny photo at the top taken at the campsite in Del Valle Lake-Livermore, CA. (Sara!) AND...there are links, some quite helpful, important for sure. Since I'm away and in written communication most, I'm trying to be more "interactive" with you all, so play my games, there will be more!! I suppose you're responses could just come in the form of comments?.....And finally, it's not all going to be about the past year's travels in Asia, however there are still more photos from then that I want to (will) post eventually.

Happy Easter, Passover, Spring.....

And photos of Switzerland to come soon too : )

A bit off topic, but.....

2008-02-18T22:52:00.005+01:00

This is a fairly good, close up shot of Robert Smith, of The Cure...shame on you if you didn't already know!! The time/place was Spain, Benicassim Festival, 2005, on Mediterranean, just north of Valencia, with my dear friend Belinda (Bobo). I was in the VERY front, against the barrier & having a super time!! Europeans are much more passionate at their konzerts. There's no limited beer/drink area...you don't have to miss the show if you have a drink, unlike Coachella in Indio, California (near Palm Springs). See links to both shows if interested...Coachella, usually around now, acutally, or in April. Benicassim in August normally.

Of course, this is Skritch, who now lives w/Alex. Won't write too much about him, you know why. He's in Chicago if you want to visit!!

And now we're back to Spain! This is a pool at a campground, believe it or not. I spent my birthday here, it's on Menorca, I'm going to have to research the name, it's not coming to me : (

2007-11-19T19:36:00.003+01:00

The typical architectural style of Tana Toraja, near Rantepao, Sulawesi, Indonesia. This is the same location of the "pig slaughter" video.

Momma Macaque and her baby. Photo taken in Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

A bar boy in a breakdancing challenge, he's quite good, energetic... you know, he has youth on his side. Photo taken on Gili Trawangan, between Bali and Lombok, Indonesia.

As Iit o grow older, I have congestion problems, sinus difficulties, etc... wait, you didn't visit my blog to hear of my ailments. Anyway, here I am in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, having my ears "candled". The woman has inserted a paper "straw" into my ear and lit it on fire. It creates a vacuum which pulls out the excess wax. It doesn't hurt, in fact you can't feel anything, but I could hear the paper sizzling. In the end, she removes the paper and opens it to reveal a LARGE amount of wax!! I chose to do this because I was diving a lot and having difficulties equalizing/unplugging my ears after being below sea level.

Sunset at Gili Trawangan.

Local children hanging out near the cock fight, Bali, Indonesia.

A typical Indonesian market.

Burial caves (also below), also in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

2007-11-19T18:39:00.001+01:00

The tomb of the deceased at a funeral ceremony in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
These boys are not at all bothered by the carnage around them!
Buffalo skin out to dry.
A typical cave burial site, also in Tana Toraja.
Black Marlin Dive & Resort, where I spent a lot of my time in Sulawesi. This is on Kadadiria, about 30 minutes ferry from Wakai.
Bajo villiage, just a little ways from Kadadiri. The Bajo people are gypsies and build their villiages in the water, as you can see. They are mostly fishermen.
Back to the funeral ceremony, various people coming to honor the deceased.
More carnage!
A photo of the overall funeral scene.

2007-11-19T18:17:00.000+01:00

This man makes these drums, those are his sons, he is starting them early in their music career. The drum maker has traveled to the U.S. for some music performance in Washington D.C. a few years back.
A group of art students I met while visiting with their instructor, Mike, the man behind me & to the left of me in the photo. Mike works for the hostel I was staying at in Makasar, a good painter who recently had a show in Japan, (www.newlegendhostel.com) you can view some of his artwork on their website. The prices for rooms can be divided by 10,000, so the range is about $4 to $10 a night, with good breakfast.
On the Puspita (ferry to Wakai, Togean Islands, Sulawesi)...I was extremely tired, had just completed a 30 hour bus journey, about 4 hours pulled over on the side of the road to sleep in the bus because of a BAD storm: fallen trees, floods, boulders in the road. Some people actually got off the bus, I am still not sure where they went. I arrived at 6 a.m. waited a while for the ferry to depart and met this woman, cannot remember her name, once we were on the ferry, she actually gave me a massage, feet and all!!
Look closely and you will see that there is a person at the top....
Brave and strong!!

2007-11-19T17:43:00.001+01:00

Taken at a weaving villiage just outside of Tetebatu, Lombok...I purchased this particular Ikat, the term used for the Indonesian weavings.
Typical street scene near smaller villiages, notice the motorbike & various fruits...the minivan taxi also transports goods.
A horse for sale at the Cattle Market, every Monday in another small village outside of Tetebatu. This horse will be used to pull a dokar (as they are called in Bali and Lombok) or Cidomo (as they are called in Sulawesi), the horse carts, used as public transportation. See below.
A cheap & sometimes breezier way to get around, plus many horses have bells or chimes!
Who knew-Pointsettia grows in the tropics, near the Equator, yet we equate it with cold weather because of its symbol of Christmas.

2007-10-14T21:20:00.001+02:00

BAMBOO!!
Rice terraces, Tetebatu, Lombok, Indonesia.
Gunung Rinjani in the background.
Women tending to the crops.
Am I a bad traveler for not remembering the name of this waterfall? I know that in Indonesian....Air Terjun....means waterfall. Air means water in their language...not sure how they say air!!!

2007-10-14T20:18:00.000+02:00

Same couple changed into their evening wear.
Village of Tetebatu, Lombok....a small, peaceful, beautiful place.
The Tetebatu Cup, football/soccer tournament.

This young boy was sitting next to me during the football match, he kept looking over my shoulder at the screen on my digital camera. Every now and then he would lean on my arm or lean his arm on my leg....we never really spoke, but he was very cute & sweet, seemed to be without anyone, family or friends, but you never know!

2007-10-14T19:41:00.000+02:00

Much out of practice and very behind....going from left to right, first photo is in Tirta Ganga, Bali....a lovely spot in the east....photo of a typical Indonesian funeral procession. Next is me carrying a bag of rice on my head, not all that heavy, this particular bag. Thirdly you see an Australian man marrying an Indonesian woman, another Muslim wedding, this taken on Gili Meno. This is the FOURTH wedding that has taken place RIGHT OUTSIDE where I was staying.....what do you think that means, is it a sign?! Then you have a typical rice field, however the fields in Tirta Ganga are some of the best and the overall area is much less touristy than Ubud. And finally, me standing at the top of a mountainside, near a temple with Gunung Agung in the background. Gunung Agung is the highest volcano on Bali. Gunung means volcano or mountain.

2007-10-14T15:35:00.001+02:00

2007-08-26T07:20:00.000+02:00

A Tarsius monkey (Tangkoko), native to Sulawesi. These very tiny primates live in the trees, are nocturnal and eat insects, such as grasshoppers, with which my guide persuaded this little one awake.
A junior high school I visited in Gorontalo, N. Sulawesi.
Another school, a primary school....notice the body language...kids
are the same EVERYWHERE!!
Some local children, selling fish to help their families. On the Puspita from Gorontalo to Wakai, Togean Islands, N. Sulawesi.
Sunset from my bungalow, Black Marlin Dive, Kadadiri, Togean Islands---again, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

2007-08-26T07:00:00.000+02:00

Photos from a fishing boat I went on for a night of fishing in Northern Sulawesi. A crew of about 25 men, plus me and my guide. The photo on the left was taken at sunrise, after a full night out on the open sea. The results of their catch:

Black Macaques lazing about in Tangkoko Forest Reserve in North Sulawesi. 3rd photo is Palm Wine being made.

2007-08-08T07:18:00.001+02:00

Same "warrior" showing his blowpipe skills....As you can see, I was chosen to come on stage (cuz I was the prettiest girl in the audience : ) ) and try my blowpipe skills, see if I could pop a balloon. I didn't do too well!

Orang-utans at Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Orang means "person" and utan I believe means "of the forest".

To the left of the Orang-utan is a Pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant found in the jungles & forests of Borneo.

This is a couple who was married, a Muslim wedding I attended the morning before bording the boat into Tanjung Puting National Park. I was welcomed by everyone, brought right up front to take photos of the couple and invited to join them for food after the ceremony!

Photo of a "warrior" taken at the Sarawak Cultural Village, during a performance.

2007-06-27T09:35:00.000+02:00

Allright, it's obviously been a while since I've done this!! Going from top left....a LARGE crocodile on the Kingabatagan river in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia....although I was told by an Indonesian that it's not actually that big! Photo taken from a river boat. Next, old Dayak women in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. Typical longhouse "kitchen" Kelabit Highlands. Women working in rice fields, once again, Kelabit Highlands. And finally, blowpipe warrior...this was actually taken from a performance at the Sarawak Cultural Village just outside Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

2007-01-22T07:53:00.000+01:00

FINALLY....new photos!!! They're extremely out of order as far as my time here lately......

Me (obviously) with SHORT HAIR....reading to some local boys by MY private waterfall/swimming hole. I found this spot accidentally on my bicycle, it's about 4 miles out of town, an easy ride. Usually during the week for a good part of the day I have the place to myself.
Nunu & me at the oldest Wat (temple) in Luang Prabang for a ceremony ordaining some novices into monk-hood.
Nunu, Diana, and Izzy in a tuk tuk on our excursion to a local village.
It's enough that I'm even able to post photos and put together this blog....you can't expect them to all be upright...oops!! Anyway, this woman was spinning cotton into thread in one of the villages we visited.
A peculiar spider web I see all over the place, I'm curious & fascinated by them. I'll do some research and report back, but they're not typical webs, they're fuzzy & form a hole that leads into the ground.
Siblings (?) in a tuk tuk along a dirt road leading to a different waterfall I discovered while riding my bike.
Local villiage women along the same dirt road as the children above.

Dong Det....where I spent Christmas. The sunsets were amazing, nightly. This photo was taken from the deck at the Sunset Cafe....a fitting name!
The Mekong River, the beach that I spent many days getting relief from the heat, as well as bathing & getting relief from myself!
My friend Lucy, the Christmas pasta chef.
On each full moon, the novices shave their heads, eyebrows, all body hair.
Shadows of Nunu, Izzy, and myself in cotton that's being laid out to dry, taken in one of the villiages we visited across the Mekong.

Kong Lor cave, 7 km long, the place I visited before heading to Dong Det. Not the best photo quality, however this is on long shutter setting, taken essentially in pitch dark!
Food vendors on the local bus that come on to sell their goods at each stop. Chicken!!
Dong Det is SOOOO laid back....as the sign implies! No, I didn't actually get my room for free!
A boy & his pet piggie.
Another sunset taken from the Sunset Cafe, Dong Det.

My bicycle along the dirt road leading to my private waterfall (as mentioned above).
A riverside garden in the villiage I stayed near Kong Lor cave.
Another peculiar spider web.
Riverside photo taken from my guesthouse near Kong Lor cave. This is not the Mekong, however the name of this river escapes me.
A villiage elder (woman) taken in one of the local villiages along the Mekong.
A darling little girl from the same villiage.
Buddhist statue taken from one of the Wats across from our house.

Luang Prabang & the Nam Khan river taken atop Phousi Mountain.
Elephant eye, up close & personal!
Riverside life....not the Mekong.
Sunset along the Mekong.
A floating "gas station" for boats traveling the Mekong to refuel.

2006-12-30T05:59:00.000+01:00

Instead of Thailand for Christmas, I went to southern Laos & had an incredibly good time! The family made their plans rather late & ended up not having a hotel room for me, and possibly not for themselves either, so they said I could join them & take the risk or stay here....free time, 10 days off, yes!!! So I left the night of the 16th by overnight bus for a 12 hour ride to the capital, to take another bus about 6 hours to a small town in the mountains. I arrived at a nice guesthouse along a river (not the Mekong), I was the only person staying there, so needless to say, it was very quiet and peaceful! The next day I went for a hike & walked through some villiages, tourists do come to this part of the country, but not so often, people did seem a bit surprised to see me and many of the tourists I'd spoken to in other places weren't familiar w/where I was, so that may give you an idea of its remoteness.

The next day I booked a trip along the river through the 7km long cave, the main draw to this area....we go by a small, motorized canoe, I would have preferred to kayak, but those tours are quite expensive. so it was an interesting, DARK trip. I had a flashlight & the driver of the boat had a much stronger one. We stopped on & off to see cave formations, stalagmites, stalagtites, etc... it kinda reminded me of a cave we boated in when we were younger, back east somewhere. Otherwise it was much like sailing through darkness, like it'd be on the moon or some distant planet. The next day I left for my next LONG journey to the 4000 islands in the very south of Laos, near the border of Cambodia.

Now, there are buses, then there are these small trucks w/bench seats that drive throught the villiages on the dirt roads. I had to start in one of those for about 3 hours, imagine the dust, then another for about 3 more hours. Incidentally, this is also how I first arrived at the villiage near the cave....this is the local transportation....picture bags of rice & pigs (live) tied to the roof, as well as baskets of chickens, vegetables, etc...anyway, I finally get on a real bus, prepared for another ride through the night. I prefer travel at night so I don't waste daytime where I could be doing something other than sleep...plus sleeping on a bus saves money on a night in a guesthouse or hotel.

The journey started off fine, I have my book, my Ipod, it's a bit crowded, but I'm ok....off we go.....a while into the trip something happened, not even sure now how I realized something happened. but people look concerned, unsure....we pull over, we're stopped for a while, it's dark out, so hard to see what's happening. I exit the bus, no one speaks English, so no one can explain what's happened. I start using body language, I eventually begin barking & a woman nods, then I run my hand perpendicularly across my throat, the same woman nods.....supposedly we hit & killed a dog. we were stopped a good 40 minutes, and to be honest, I'm surprised it was taken so seriously, there's dogs, goats, pigs, cats, chickens, cows & water buffalo wondering all the streets!

So we proceed, the public buses stop at many towns to drop off & pick up people, we arrived at a town, people get off & I finally have an empty seat next to me, "yes, I can lay down!!!" and then a man comes to sit next to me....there are other empty seats, "why me, why is it always me?!" So he sits & says he wants to practice English, I tell him I want to sleep, he says when I'm ready to sleep, he'll move...by then there are no more empty seats. So I overcome my frustration, we chat & talk, he's studying English in college, his accent was terrible & he really didn't understand me too well. So after some chatting, I start to sleep, it's quite chilly at night & some of the windows are open, so he gives me his leather jacket to use as a blanket, sweet man. And he kept making sure it stayed in position, wasn't falling off. Then as I'm asleep, I feel the bus slamming on it's breaks and feel the man next to me throw his arms over me, holding onto me for protection, and then we stop! Again, not sure what happened, it smelled to me like there was a tire blow out, but when I went outside to look, the tires looked fine, but the driver was doing some work under the bus....maybe a broken belt? My protector couldn't tell me in English, I'd say he has a lot more studying to do! So on we went.

We're finally approaching our final destination at about 2:30 a.m., apparently 8 km out of town, the bus stops, parks on the road, along w/other buses....apparently the police won't allow buses to enter the town until 6 a.m.....why? Don't know, again, no one can tell me & my protector can't tell me in English either. So I'm thinking "why doesn't the bus leave at 8:30 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. to avoid parking on the road for 3.5 hours...seems logical to me?!" There are many mysteries when traveling like this!! So I slept, we finally arrived, my protector went his way, I thank him & tell him he'll make someone a lucky lady someday. He was 21 & shocked at my 36...."why are you beautiful?" to them 36 year olds are already married w/3,4,5 kids!!!

So an eventful journey brings me to the islands....in the rainy season the Mekong rises so that all these islands form, there are 2 main ones, the one I was on has no cars or roads, instead dirt paths, and electricity on generators that stops at about 9 p.m...my bungalow was along the river & I immediately met my neighbors, 2 girls from Germany & their friend from Italy. So I had instant friends. The German girls left the next day & for the next 5 days it was me & Lucy (Italian) & some of the same other people we'd see around the tiny island. Lucy was lots of fun, we rode bikes & went to the beach & took walks, she's 38, nice to have someone my same age range, many travelers are young, in their 20s.

So for Christmas Eve there's a bakery/restaurant run by an Australian man & we had pizza there, then on Christmas Day, we made pasta!! I'm talking homemade pasta....Lucy taught me how, it's quite easy! We bought some flour from the baker man & one of the guys we'd met had a camp stove, we borrowed pots from the guesthouse family, and bought tomatoes, onions, oil, etc... for the sauce & had an honest-to-goodness Italian pasta dinner! carvatiella is the type of pasta we made. So I'd say my Christmas was about as unique & different as it's gonna get.

I know you all worry about me & some of the details of this journey may make you think I'm crazy, but some food for thought....most people in this region of the world are Buddhist. I know you don't know much about Buddhism, neither do I, it's quite elaborate. But what I do know is that Buddhists are quite peaceful, honest, caring people. They meditate & strive for inner peace & balance, they do not function by harming, cheating, or destroying others; violence is not part of their way....so when you find yourself worrying or wondering, maybe this will help ease your mind.

photos to follow...............

2006-11-22T14:13:00.000+01:00

2006-11-22T13:51:00.000+01:00

A hill tribe girl (homeless?) just outside of Sapa, Vietnam.
Me...at the river after a 4 km trek through the hill tribe villiages outside of Sapa, Vietnam.
Red Thai tribe woman & child.
Children at a local school in one of the villiages we visited.
More Red Thai women....Thai doesn't mean they're from Thailand....
Another assortment of "food" at the market in Sapa, Vietnam....heart and kidneys!!
"The Amazing Cave" Som Sot Cave (in Vietnamese)....in Halong Bay. MASSIVE CAVE!!!!
More "foods" available...notice the legs, feet, beaks, heads, waddles, etc....
Also at the market....you can make up your own story here!!
Need I describe? In the "Amazing Cave".....I think our guide said this was a finger....for some reason I was the only one who would outright say "no it's not, it's a penis...." of course it's mentioned in the guidebook as one of the "must-see" features of the cave!! This cave is so large & full of geologic features that one woman I met from Europe said "it looks fake, it's like being at Disney World or in a Star Wars film".

2006-11-22T05:32:00.000+01:00

A woman outside a market in Hanoi, Vietnam
A fruit vendor in Hoi An, Vietnam
My bedroom at the house in Saigon!
A funeral procession in Hoi An.
An assortment of "foods" available on the streets in Hanoi.
Even though we left the house almost a month ago, I still feel the need to show where I was lucky enough to live during October 2006. This is the hallway, stairs leading to the second floor...I'm modeling the dress that I had tailor made by the ladies on staff!
This is the billiard room, also where we had our pedicures done!
The formal dining room where we ate our nightly dinners.
The living room, the wooden doors behind the red chair lead to the back yard/swimming pool.
The massive kitchen, notice the granite floors & countertops.

2006-10-26T14:55:00.000+02:00

As the month of October comes to an end, so does the rainy season in Vietnam, however it is raining as I write....and our stay at this wonderful house is also coming to an end, we depart tomorrow. We'll spend 2 more nights in Saigon, then head north to Hanoi, making a few stops along the way to see some more of the countryside and traditional villages and people. Having stayed at this house, I've had unlimited, daily access to a computer so posting on the blog has been quite easy. I'll do my best to continue updating it regularly, but I'm reluctant that the internet cafes will not be as cooperative with me downloading photos in order to post. Keep checking though, please!

I've enjoyed the comments some of you have emailed to me and I appreciate the interest you're showing in my journey this year. I spent 4 days this past week at Nha Trang, a town about 400 km north of Saigon on the coast. It's a party beach town, I relaxed, sunbathed, ate good food, and hung out with some people I met from the UK. As I am aware that the decision I made to join the Wright family has turned out to be a great one. When I meet fellow travelers and tell them what my story is, what I'm doing, to hear their responses, "how'd you manage to get this opportunity?" "where did you find these people?" "so you're getting paid to travel?" "you've got the greatest gig i've heard of yet!".....makes me glad I chose to join them!!

Life could be much worse, I am fortunate and lucky to be here!!

2006-10-19T11:37:00.000+02:00

A woman making laquer wall hangings, using broken pieces of eggshell to create the mosaic design.
Woman walking outside of Cao Dai Cathedral. Cao Daism , which started in the 1920s, is a fusion of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, as well as some of the Catholic and Christian beliefs.
Me standing inside one of the tunnels at the Cu Chi tunnel compound. These were built during the Vietnam war as network for the people to hide and get to safety.
Musician at the Cao Dai Cathedral.
Cao Dai worshippers during a service at Cao Dai Cathedral. The yellow, blue, and red signify the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements. The priests wear the square hats.
Lovely beach bungalow in Mui Ne, Vietnam
One of the pagodas in Saigon, the hanging spirals are incense rings.
Children praying at another pagoda in Saigon.
Motorbike traffic in busy Saigon.
A variety of offerings at an herbal medicine shop in Saigon.

2006-10-06T04:23:00.000+02:00

Me in Patan Durbar Square, just outside of Kathmandu.
The cremation of a 16 year old girl at Pashupatinath near Kathmandu...The ashes get swept into the river below that flows to the Ganges...both sacred waters in the eyes of Hindu people.

You could say I'm playing catch-up as I'm just now posting photos from Nepal but have been in Vietnam for about 3 weeks. Photos of Saigon will soon follow!

2006-10-06T03:52:00.000+02:00

A variety of nuts & dried fruits. (Lhasa, Tibet)
Candles-photo taken through the window of a monastery in Lhasa.
Back to Chengdu, China. This is a rather touristy area near a temple, although the picture doesn't quite show it. We nicknamed it "Fisherman's Wharf".
An assortment of the foods available at your typical restaurant in China. Most often you don't order from a menu, you look at foods on diplay in the cases and point to what you'd like....We didn't eat any of this (needless to say), we did however have some unidentifiable foods...thank God for rice!!
Yak wool (Lhasa, Tibet)

2006-10-06T03:41:00.000+02:00

We visited the Panda Reserve in Chengdu, China...at the time we visited in August, this baby panda was only 10 days old and hadn't yet been named.
We saw many Giant Pandas eating bamboo and playing together.
Red Pandas, not raccoons...who knew?!
So they don't eat pandas, how about dogs & cats, &.....?!

2006-09-22T15:48:00.000+02:00

Yak!! Yak butter tea isn't so tasty, but yak burgers are quite yummy!!!
This may seem an odd, uninteresting photo, however Bob, Diana (the parents), Niulan, and Isobel (the daughters) are in the midst of this crowd. In the evening we'd stroll the Barkhor Square and people watch, inevitably we'd draw a crowd, most people were first drawn to Isobel's long blonde hair & blue eyes, but they'd quickly move to Niulan (aka Nunu) and try to figure out where she fits into the group because she's Chinese, we, of course are not. Then finally they'd move to me and try to figure out how I fit into the entire group, "American men have 2 wives?!"

MT. EVEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A crystal clear day as we flew from Tibet to Nepal I managed to snap some incredible photos all from the comfort of my airplane seat, coffee in hand, no ill effects from the altitude, or a treacherous trek!! Now that is Everest in style.....really I would have like to do some trekking : )
A monk sewing at a monastery in Sigatse, Tibet, a smaller town in the outskirts of Lhasa.

2006-09-22T14:59:00.000+02:00

I never thought I'd be so technical and I never thought I'd have the capability to do this from all the way across the world, but here I am. Acutally I'm living in the lap of luxury, we're currently staying in District 2 in Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh...we were told it's still referred to as Saigon as a matter of history & tradition. Were living for the weekend at a house that used to be occupied by the prime minister & is now occupied by a couple we'll be doing some volunteer work for through an organization called East Meets West (more to follow about that soon). We'll be staying at this same house for 3 weeks in October when the couple goes to the U.S...the house has granite floors, stairs, and walls, a nice, large pool in the back yard, 7 bathrooms, and a staff of 10 (chauffer, cooks, maids, etc...) today I had a massage & facial poolside!! I digress...

Many of you have been requesting photos, which is largely why I started the blog, those you see so far were taken in Tibet, which are some of the best. Then I'll back track and post a few from China, then I'll jump ahead to Nepal and my current location, Vietnam. All in all so far I've been to Nanchung & Chengdu (China), Lhasa (Tibet), Kathmandu (Nepal), Mui Ne & Saigon (Vietnam). We only stayed in Kathmandu a week because of political protests & riots due to Maoist activity. It wasn't necessarily unsafe and they don't necessarily target tourists or Americans, although they do throw stones if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We found it extremely difficult to get around because the streets would be blocked and the taxi drivers would threaten to strike, so we decided it didn't makes sense to be stuck in a hotel room, moved on sooner than we'd planned, but may go back later when things settle down.

Alrighty, I'm anxious to post more photos & post this blog as my first test page....so far I can only post 5 photos at a time. FEEL FREE TO WRITE/POST COMMENTS!!!!!

Much love to each and every one of you,
Lori